My problem isn't that I can't empathize with others; nor do I have much trouble getting along with people. It's simply that on many occasions, I find myself unable to make meaningful connections, no matter how much I may want to. Those that I do manage to forge, I let dissipate a little too easily. Heh, thinking about right after I typed it, the use of the word "forge" seems pretty appropriate, don't you think? The duality of the meaning doesn't escape me:
 1: To form or make through concerted effort, the idea of something strong and lasting
2: To imitate and fabricate

And sometimes I find myself wondering whether what I'm doing is the former or the latter. Whether what we're building is a ziggurat that can weather the test of time or merely a rote imitation of the form with none of the actual substance. It's so hard to tell at times, especially because that "substance" which I speak of so easily is not something that's exactly tangible, nor isolatable for close scrutiny.

I realize, of course that it's highly likely that it's because I'm asking myself these sorts of questions that I'm facing my current problem, but that's a Catch 22, now isn't it?

Strangely, or perhaps not so, I find that the more I care, the harder I find it to take action (forgive me for being intentionally vague, though it has been a recurring theme). It's just that because I care, I desperately want to get everything right, and that kind of engenders doubt and hesitation, which ironically enough, serve to deprive me of my desired outcome. A new approach is needed, it seems; yet personalities don't change overnight, and a forced change just doesn't seem that appealing.

I leave you with an interesting quote (thanks Henhouse!) that I find directly related to introspection in a really tongue-in-cheek manner:

"A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small package"
Heh, so what about a (wo)man? Methinks that package could be pretty interesting xD